From its very beginning, psychoanalysis sought to incorporate the aesthetic into its domain. Despite Joyce's deliberate attempt in his writing to resist this powerful hermeneutic, his work has been confronted by a long tradition of psychoanalytic readings. Luke Thurston argues that this very antagonism holds the key to how psychoanalytic thinking can still open up new avenues in Joycean criticism and literary theory. In particular, Thurston shows that Jacques Lacan's response to Joyce goes beyond the 'application' of theory: rather than diagnosing Joyce's writing or claiming to have deciphered its riddles, Lacan seeks to understand how it can entail an unreadable signature, a unique act of social transgression that defies translation into discourse. Thurston imaginatively builds on Lacan's work to illuminate Joyce's place in a wide-ranging literary genealogy that includes Shakespeare, Hogg, Stevenson and Wilde. This study should be essential reading for all students of Joyce, literary
Psychoanalytic readings of Joyce abound, despite Joyce's deliberate attempts to resist them. Luke Thurston argues that this very antagonism determines how psychoanalytic thinking can influence Joycean
This book resituates the ghost story as a matter of literary hospitality and as part of a vital prehistory of modernism, seeing it not as a quaint neo-gothic ornament, but as a powerful literary respo
This book resituates the ghost story as a matter of literary hospitality and as part of a vital prehistory of modernism, seeing it not as a quaint neo-gothic ornament, but as a powerful literary respo
Largely revolving around the 1975-76 Le sinthome , seven essays explore the relatively obscure late work of Jacques Lacan. Presented by Thurston (languages and literature, Robinson College, Cambridge, UK), the essays explore the work from a variety of perspectives, discussing such topics as Lacan's linguistic encounter with James Joyce, his critique of Derrida, his treatment of sexual difference, and his self-critique of earlier writings. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Handbook to the Ghost Story sets out to survey and significantly extend a new field of criticism which has been taking shape over recent years, centring on the ghost story and bringing together a
